The birth of John the Baptist

Updated on November 26, 2010

There
was in the days of Herod, king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of
the course of Abijah: and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God,
walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child, because that
Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. Now it
came to pass, while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of
his course, according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to
enter into the temple of the Lord and
burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were
praying without at the hour of incense.
And there appeared unto him an angel of the lord standing on the right
side of the altar of incense. And
Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.

But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: because thy supplication is heard,
and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name
John. And thou shalt have joy and
gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the
Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor 6strong drink; and he shall be filled with
the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.
And many of the children of Israel shall he turn unto the Lord their God. And he shall go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn
the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to walk in the
wisdom of the just; to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.

And Zacharias said unto the angel,
Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence
of God; and I was sent to speak unto thee, and
to bring thee these good tidings. And behold, thou shalt be silent and
not able to speak, until the day that these things shall come to pass, because
thou believedst not my words, which shall
be fulfilled in their season.

And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and they marvelled while he
tarried in the temple. And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and
they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: and he continued making
signs unto them, and remained dumb. And it came to pass, when the days of his ministration were fulfilled,
he departed unto his house. And after these days Elisabeth his wife conceived ;
and she hid herself five months, saying, Thus hath the Lord done unto me in the
days wherein he looked upon me, to take away my reproach among men.

Now Elisabeth's time was fulfilled
that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.
And her neighbours and
her kinsfolk heard that the Lord
had magnified his mercy towards her; and they rejoiced with her. And it came to pass on the eighth day, that
they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him Zacharias,
after the name of his father. And his
mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. And they said unto her, There is none of
thy kindred that is called by this name.
And they made signs to his father, what he would have him called. And he
asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. And his mouth was opened immediately, and
his tongue loosed, and he spake, blessing God.

And fear came on all that dwelt round
about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill
country of Judaea. And all that heard them laid them up in their heart, saying,
What then shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him. And his
father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; For he hath visited and wrought redemption for his people,

And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David

(As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been since the world began),

Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us ;

To shew mercy towards our fathers, And to remember his holy covenant;

The oath which he sware unto Abraham our father,

To grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies should serve him without fear,

In holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

Yea and thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High: For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to make ready his ways; !

To give knowledge of salvation unto his people in the remission of their sins,

Because of the tender mercy of our God, 2Whereby the dayspring from on high 3shall visit us,

To shine upon them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death ; To guide our feet into the way of peace.

And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.

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